Maybe a stupid question, but what did it take to get the a-pillars to line back up. As I'm looking at my car right now, it looks like they would need a little leaning to make them line up right. Also, you said you spent a tone on the windshield, did you already buy the glass, and cut the car to fit? Will you be keeping the two piece windshield?(I personally prefer that look, but the olds style glass is cool too) Thanks Drew
ill get some pics of how we cut the a pillars for ya later drew instead of cutting the roof on the outside we cut the bracing on the inside . i think they were in a little less then a quarter inch on both side. after that we got the biggest pair of vice grips in the shop and pulled the post out to meet the bottom part of the post. they also need twisted a hair. yah i bought the glass before i even chopped the car we made the car fit the glass. you can make metal move no way to shrink and stretch glass. still needs a few places on the windshield sanded down but thats should be no big deal for a glass shop around here .the hard part was already done. 51 olds gass will be going in . 1 piece as for the posts 55 i am keeping the posts but moving back the whole top of the quarter window so the posts then line up instead of just cutting out the small portion of the post to make them line up. if that makes any sense. i just dont want the back window to look very small which is see alot when coupes are chopped so thats why im gonna move back the whole top of the window. i think gm stopped slanting posts in 48
I'm getting ready to chop my 51 poncho. I can't wait to see this finished. Keep posting pics. Looking good.
here are the pics for gasserfreak they show the relief cuts we made in the inner bracings of the A pillars i think if the old lead reapir wasnt there it wouldnt have puckered at all
heres a little update finished the packing tray. i think it was the worst part of the job so far heres what we started with also started welding the roof back on more pics after dinner
thanks bob if it keep goin back together this easy ill be done in another week and a half with the grinding . i still gotta move the rear quarter winows backward and slant the posts ever so slightly. so keep checkin back for some updates thanks for the feedback
Awesome job so far. By the way, sheer genius to get the glass first. I like the idea of cutting the inside to line everything up. I have to save up for a roof, then I can try this trick as well. Keep posting pics of your progress.
heres the guy that did my glass a little plug for him. he is a hamber choppedbuick his name is tony he runs tri valley auto glass in cali man were those guys good helpful in everyway. it was between these guys and the alliance guy and the alliance guy was a complete dick to me and prices were sky high and sounded like he had no confidence in cutting curved windhields. talked to tony and it was a completley different story told me how he did it talked about some cars the whole 9 yards. windshield came fit perfect smooooth as can be . www.trivalleyautoglass.com thanks again tony more pics in a few days when i get some more stuff done
Man you have a lot of patience to weld in all of the patches on the c- pillar, you did a good job with it.
the story of my life weld grind hammer grind hammer maybe cut grind weld weld weld hammer grind but with all of that it leads to this mmmm half way done smooth but not perfect still has to have a once over with the hammer and dollie when im finished welding
im gonna have to pass on that one !! hah one more pic from the front a look at the whole car i shoulda moved the welder oh well
I take it that you are just doing small welds and grinding off smooth using the mig? rather than hammer welding them flat? .You must have the patience of 'old nick' to do that. cheers!
yah i do small tacks welds and get about 2 or 3 inches done grind them off with the big grinder taking off most of the weld with the stone wheel . then i switch to the die grinder and roloc disc grind till they are some what smooth and then see what areas need to come up or go down . usually the edges where the weld meets the original metal need to come up .bang those up and proceed on my way. no hammer wleding . also i have a small hand held hammer thing i dont know what to call it i usually hit the welds from the backside to get them back up when the welds are hot. most everytime i weld a few tacks i have to do that. but so far it is working out great .
Car looks very good. Is that George burns in the background of this pic? It looks like him and his stoggie approve!
I just came across this thread, and damn man ! Nice work ! You nailed the proportions, very nice flow. I can't wait to see this one done ! Keep up the great work. Todd
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